Articles Posted inSt. Louis Traffic Ticket Defense

Because if you end up with a moving violation on your permanent driving record, then the state will assess points. This is will result in much higher car insurance rates. So the goal of a good St Louis traffic attorney is get the ticket reduced to a non-moving violation. A more thorough explanation is provided below:

When you are pulled over for having committed an infraction of the traffic laws in the state of Missouri, the police officer will write you a ticket. Once you have the ticket in hand, you have two main options: 1) you can plead guilty to the infraction; 2) you can hire an experienced attorney to fix the ticket for you.

Depending upon where you received your St Louis traffic ticket, the courthouse for your particular hearing could resemble a madhouse!! Typically, traffic court is held in the evening (somewhere between 4pm – 7pm). But if you received your ticket in the City of St Louis, then the traffic dockets are usually during the daytime.

So what happens at a traffic docket? You sit until your name is called, you stand before the judge, he/she asks what you would like to do with your ticket, then you indicate what you would like to do (either plead guilty or not guilty).

If you receive a St Louis traffic ticket when you are involved in an accident, then it is probably a “Following Too Close” infraction. This would especially be the case if you were found to be at fault for the accident. Below is more information related to this type of situation:

In a normal traffic ticket scenario, our main goal would be to get the ticket reduced from a moving violation down to a non-moving violation. This is a desirable outcome, because a non-moving violation does not come with any points on your permanent driving record. “Points” are like little red flags that make it appear as if you are a bad driver. It is the existence of points on your record that leads to a dramatic increase in your monthly car insurance rates.

Yes, there is a difference between getting pulled over by a regular local cop (and receiving a St Louis speeding ticket) and a highway patrolman. The most obvious would be that the highway patrol officer is only going to stop you on the interstate highway system. But there is a very big difference in the way the ticket is handled. A brief description of that difference is included below:

If you are pulled over for speeding, the highway patrolman will write you out a standard ticket. But you will notice at the top of the ticket it will state: FCC. This stands for “Fines Collection Center,” which is the department in Jefferson City, MO, which handles all highway traffic infractions.

Yes, there is a different procedure that your St Louis traffic ticket lawyer would handle such a ticket. But the end goal is still the same: we will want to get the ticket reduced to a non-moving violation. The following provides a brief description of how the process plays out:

When you are pulled over by a highway patrolman, it is almost always going to be a situation in which you were driving on an interstate roadway (hence the name of their occupation). These officers are employed by the state of Missouri. If this type of officer issues a St Louis speeding ticket, an attorney can still fix it, but there is a slightly different way in which it is handled.

Yes, you will receive a fine (even if your St Louis traffic ticket has been amended by the court to a non-moving violation). Why? Because that is how the court / municipality makes their money. A brief explanation is given below.

There are literally hundreds of traffic violations in the state of Missouri (in other words, there are way more infractions on the books than just speeding). And instead of pleading guilty to the ticket (usually by signing the back of the ticket, and mailing in the associated fine), you certainly have the option of hiring an experienced St. Louis speeding ticket lawyer to get the ticket reduced from a moving violation to a non-moving violation. When the ticket is handled in this manner, then no points go onto your permanent driving record (and it is the points that cause your auto insurance to go up, and possibly even cause a suspension of your driving privileges).

This is a more difficult situation than a regular speeding ticket that you might receive, because the whole purpose of having a reduced speed limit in the construction zone is to protect the men and women who are working on site. But there are several things that an experienced attorney can do to help.

Construction zones in St. Louis are set up for the safety of both the workers and for the people driving cars through the zone. Over the years, a number of construction workers have been hit while on the job, and this has lead local and state officials to impose stricter fines and speed limitations in these zones. So if you are pulled over in such a zone for traveling over the posted speed limit, you can expect a much higher fine than usual.

But if you simply sign the ticket (in which case you are pleading guilty) and pay the associated fine, then a larger than normal amount of points will be assessed against your driving record. These points (which should be thought of as “strikes” because they are negative marks against you) pile up over time and can result much higher rates of insurance (because the more points you have, the carrier will think of you as a much bigger risk, which almost always end up with you paying higher monthly premiums), or even potentially the loss of your driving privileges (like a suspension or revocation of your license).

Although it has a fancy name, the ticket still works the same way as a regular ticket. The only difference is that the fine is usually a lot higher than a traffic ticket you might get elsewhere in the city. But the strategy remains the same: contacting an experienced lawyer to handle the ticket so that it does not do too much damage should be your goal.

“ARC” stands for Accident Reduction Corridor. It is a stretch of highway on I-70 through St. Louis (covering the municipalities of St. Ann, Berkeley, Cool Valley, Edmundson, Normandy, Northwoods, Woodson Terrace, and Pine Lawn). This section of highway has proven statistically to be an area in which a higher number of accidents have occurred. The participating cities have established this zone in an attempt to reduce the number of vehicular accidents.

So if you are pulled over in the ARC Zone, and you received a citation for speeding, the officer is still going to give you a ticket that looks exactly like any other traffic ticket. But because the infraction occurred in the zone, the fine will be higher. An ARC ticket (like any other ticket) is a legal document that can greatly impact your automobile insurance. Each time you get a ticket, a certain number of points are assessed. These points are put on your driving record. As points build up over time, your insurance rates go up. And if enough points are assessed over a short period of time, you could possibly lose your license to drive.

Yes, there is a possibility to still drive to work or school if your driver’s license has been suspended. But there are very specific rules that govern how the suspension works in the state of Missouri. This means that it is absolutely in your best interest to find an experienced traffic attorney to help you in the process.

If your license has been suspended, it is most likely due to having accumulated too many points on your driving record. You are assessed points when you receive a traffic citation for having violated the motor vehicle laws in Missouri. The term ‘points’ is a bit of a misnomer, though. When people initially hear that word, they automatically think that it is something good (like scoring points for your team). But in the context of traffic tickets (like speeding, illegal lane change, etc.), points are a bad thing (and you should really think of them as strikes). The more points that accumulate in a short period of time, the greater the likelihood that you will have your license suspended (or even revoked). In addition, it is also a really good way to have your automobile insurance go up (which is just another added expense to your already difficult budget).

But if this has happened, and your license has been suspended as a result, then you can apply for what is called a Restricted Driving Permit. This permit can be had if you have served at least thirty (30) days of your license suspension. It will allow you to drive for the limited purposes of getting to work, school, medical appointments, and other essential daily activities. You do not have to fill out any special form for this, as your local motor vehicle office can issue the permit on its own. But you will have to provide them with what is called an SR-22 form, which shows that you have proper vehicular insurance to drive. This restricted driving permit is valid for sixty (60) days’ time.

The short answer is that you need to hire an experienced lawyer in order to take care of your situation so that it does not get any worse. Because one potential outcome (particularly if the ticket has not been paid) is that a warrant will be issued for your arrest. But this is not the course of events that have to take place.

When you are pulled over for having violated a traffic law, the police officer will almost certainly cite you with a ticket. The ticket will indicate the precise infraction for which you have been pulled over, the court date and time, and the amount of the fine. One option is to simply sign the ticket and pay the fine, but of course doing so will result in ‘points’ being applied to your driving record (these are negative marks indicating bad driving). This in turn will cause your automobile insurance to rise (because your carrier will deem you more of a risk). But your attorney can get the ticket reduced to a non-moving violation. Such violations do not negatively affect your insurance, because these kinds of infractions do not go on your permanent driving record.

But if in fact you received a speeding ticket in Missouri, and for whatever reason you did not take care of it (by either calling a lawyer or paying the associated fine), and your court date comes and goes without you making an appearance, the judge will undoubtedly issue a bench warrant for your arrest. This means that if you are subsequently pulled over while driving (or if you for some reason are questioned by the police), the officer will see that the warrants are active and will be duty bound to arrest you. This will land you in jail, and you almost certainly will not be released unless or until the underlying tickets are paid for.